Chapter 6 - The Night Victor Chose His Wife Over His EmpireEmily survived surgery.
Barely.
The second bullet had entered beneath her ribs and missed her liver by less than an inch.
Victor learned that fact at 6:14 in the morning.
He remembered the exact time because he had spent three hours staring at the clock above the private hospital waiting room.
The facility belonged to the DeLuca family.
Victor had never considered whether that was morally complicated until that morning.
He had bought surgeons.
Machines.
Privacy.
Entire hospital wings.
Yet none of his money could force Emily to survive.
He hated that.
Isabella sat beside him with a blanket around her shoulders.
“She will wake up.”
Victor stared at the floor.
“You don't know that.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“Because she is stubborn.”
Victor almost smiled.
Then his face hardened again.
Adrian was alive.
Under guard.
Victor had ordered his men not to touch him.
Not because Victor felt mercy.
Because Emily would want evidence preserved.
That realization unsettled him.
He was beginning to make decisions based on what Emily would think.
Not what the syndicate expected.
Marco entered.
“Adrian is secure.”
Victor nodded.
“He wants a lawyer.”
“He can have one.”
Marco raised an eyebrow.
Isabella did too.
Victor looked at them.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Marco said.
His mother was less subtle.
“You usually dislike lawyers when they represent people you want dead.”
Victor ignored her.
Marco continued.
“The police commissioner called.”
“Which one? The honest one or Adrian's?”
“The honest one.”
“That's new.”
“He wants Adrian transferred.”
Victor leaned back.
“Not yet.”
“Figured.”
Marco sat.
“There’s another problem.”
“Of course.”
“Adrian wasn't working alone.”
Victor looked at him.
“We know.”
“No. I mean above him.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
Marco placed photographs on the table.
A businessman named Charles Rainer.
Owner of ports, trucking companies, and security firms.
Legitimate in public.
Ruthless in private.
Victor knew him.
Everyone did.
“Rainer financed Adrian's expansion.”
Marco tapped the photograph.
“Those accounts Daniel discovered? Half the money came from Rainer-controlled firms.”
Victor understood.
“Adrian wasn't building his own empire.”
“He was preparing ours for a merger.”
“After killing me.”
“Probably.”
Isabella snorted.
“Adrian always did lack imagination.”
Victor looked at his mother.
“You knew Rainer?”
“Your father hated him.”
“Why?”
“Because Rainer wanted access to the docks.”
Marco leaned forward.
“If Rainer realizes Adrian failed, he'll move.”
Victor looked toward the surgery doors.
Normally, this was where he would return to headquarters.
Call captains.
Mobilize crews.
Defend territory.
He remained seated.
Marco noticed.
“Victor.”
“No.”
“What?”
“You handle it.”
Marco stared.
“You want me to manage Rainer?”
“Yes.”
“You've never delegated a war.”
“Then enjoy the historic occasion.”
Marco glanced toward the operating room.
Understanding entered his face.
“You're staying.”
Victor's answer was simple.
“Yes.”
Isabella smiled.
Victor glared.
“Don't.”
“I said nothing.”
“You were thinking loudly.”
Two hours later, Emily woke.
Victor was beside the bed.
She looked confused.
Then annoyed.
That reassured him.
“Why are you here?”
Victor stared.
“That is what you say?”
“What should I say?”
“You were shot.”
“Again.”
“Yes, again.”
Emily tried to shift.
Pain stopped her.
Victor immediately pressed the nurse button.
“I don't need—”
“Yes, you do.”
She looked at him.
“You've become controlling.”
“I was always controlling.”
“True.”
The nurse adjusted medication.
When they were alone again, Emily looked toward the window.
“Isabella?”
“Safe.”
“Adrian?”
“Alive.”
She turned back.
“You didn't kill him?”
Victor almost looked offended.
“You asked me to preserve evidence.”
“I don't remember asking.”
“You would have.”
Emily smiled faintly.
Victor felt absurdly relieved.
He moved closer.
“There is something I need to say.”
Emily's smile vanished.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It may be.”
Victor had negotiated multimillion-dollar deals without preparation.
He had threatened judges.
He had stared down armed rivals.
This was worse.
“For three years, I treated you badly.”
Emily blinked.
He continued before pride could stop him.
“I was never cruel in the obvious ways.”
“No.”
“That made it easier for me to pretend I wasn't cruel at all.”
Emily said nothing.
Victor looked at their hands.
“I gave you money and rooms and security. I thought that meant I had fulfilled every obligation.”
“Victor…”
“No.”
He met her eyes.
“Let me finish.”
She nodded.
“I never asked what you wanted. I never asked why you stayed. I never asked why you kept your apartment or why you sat with my mother or why you remembered everyone's birthdays.”
His voice became quieter.
“I did not even know you were a nurse.”
Emily looked away.
Victor continued.
“I told myself the marriage wasn't real.”
“It wasn't supposed to be.”
“Maybe.”
He swallowed.
“But you were.”
Emily's eyes returned to him.
“You were real the entire time.”
Silence filled the room.
Victor's next words were harder.
“And I acted as if that didn't matter.”
Emily's eyes shone.
“I don't need an apology because I got shot.”
“This isn't because you got shot.”
“Then why now?”
“Because I nearly lost the chance to say it.”
Victor reached toward her hand.
Stopped before touching it.
Emily noticed.
Then she turned her palm upward.
An invitation.
Victor placed his hand in hers.
Her fingers closed around his.
He had held guns with less fear.
Emily whispered, “I accepted the arrangement too.”
“That does not excuse me.”
“No.”
“You deserved respect.”
“Yes.”
“I should have given it.”
“Yes.”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“You are enjoying this.”
“A little.”
He laughed.
A real laugh.
Emily looked startled.
Victor realized she had probably never heard him laugh without calculation.
That hurt too.
Her fingers tightened around his.
“What happens now?”
Victor looked toward the window.
“Rainer is moving against us.”
“Then you should be at headquarters.”
“No.”
Emily frowned.
“Victor.”
“Marco is handling it.”
“You trust him?”
“Yes.”
“After everything?”
“He came to the hospital.”
“That is your standard?”
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“My standard is that he warned me about Helen before she could kill you.”
Emily nodded.
“Fair.”
Victor leaned closer.
“I am staying here.”
“You have an empire.”
“I have people who can manage it.”
“You hate other people managing things.”
“I am discovering many unpleasant things about personal growth.”
Emily laughed.
Pain made her stop.
Victor immediately became serious.
“Don't laugh.”
“That's a terrible medical recommendation.”
For the next two days, Victor stayed.
He slept in the chair beside her.
His men brought documents.
He signed only what required him.
Isabella visited.
Marco visited.
Even the cook from the DeLuca estate arrived with soup because Emily hated hospital food.
Victor learned things.
Emily liked tea too strong.
She hated lilies.
She read murder mysteries but always guessed the killer too early.
She cried secretly at documentaries about animals.
She had wanted to become a doctor but could not afford medical school.
Victor learned that she had once volunteered after a hurricane for six weeks.
That she hated being photographed from the side because an aunt had mocked her weight throughout childhood.
That she had spent three years believing Victor found her embarrassing because he rarely stood close to her unless photographers demanded it.
That revelation almost destroyed him.
“I never thought that.”
Emily looked at him.
“You dated women who looked like fashion models.”
“That has nothing to do with you.”
“You never touched me.”
Victor went quiet.
Emily immediately looked away.
“Forget I said that.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“I kept distance because the contract said no intimacy.”
“You wrote the contract.”
“I know.”
She stared at the blanket.
Victor understood something then.
Emily had interpreted his restraint as rejection.
Victor had interpreted her politeness as indifference.
Three years wasted because two people followed rules neither had been brave enough to question.
He lifted her hand.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“I have never been ashamed of how you look.”
Emily said nothing.
Victor's gaze moved over her face.
“I was afraid that if I crossed the line, I would lose control of an arrangement I understood.”
Her lips parted.
Victor continued.
“You were safe when you were temporary.”
“Safe?”
“For me.”
Emily stared.
Victor rarely exposed weakness.
Now he did.
“I watched what marriage did to men in my family. Affairs. Betrayal. Children used as leverage. Wives used as hostages.”
His thumb moved across her knuckles.
“I decided I would never give anyone that kind of power.”
Emily whispered, “And now?”
Victor looked at the hospital machines surrounding her.
“Now everyone knows they can destroy me by hurting you.”
Emily's breathing changed.
He smiled bitterly.
“So the strategy was not especially successful.”
She laughed softly.
This time the pain did not stop her.
On the third night, Victor received evidence that Charles Rainer planned to strike the DeLuca docks.
He left Emily for forty minutes to meet Marco downstairs.
“We should hit first,” Marco said.
Victor studied the map.
“No.”
Marco stared.
“No?”
“We give the evidence to federal investigators.”
Marco nearly dropped his coffee.
“Who are you?”
Victor ignored him.
“Rainer owns police, judges, unions. If we fight him traditionally, this becomes a war.”
“Wars we usually win.”
“And people die.”
Marco studied Victor carefully.
“You mean Emily might die.”
“I mean everyone.”
Marco sat back.
Victor continued.
“Daniel and my father collected evidence because they wanted to stop this without turning the city into a graveyard.”
Marco nodded slowly.
“So we use the recordings.”
“Yes.”
“And Adrian?”
“He testifies.”
Marco laughed.
“Adrian would rather swallow glass.”
Victor smiled.
“Then find something he likes more than pride.”
They did.
Adrian had a daughter.
Twenty-two years old.
Studying architecture in Boston.
Victor had never known.
Adrian had kept her secret from the family to protect her.
When Victor entered the secured hospital room where Adrian recovered from his wounded hand, he placed a photograph on the table.
Adrian's face changed.
“You stay away from her.”
Victor sat.
“I intend to.”
“If you touch—”
“I will protect her.”
Adrian stopped.
Victor leaned forward.
“In exchange, you tell the truth.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You're threatening my daughter.”
“No.”
Victor's voice was calm.
“Rainer will.”
Adrian's smile disappeared.
“He knows about her?”
“He does now.”
Victor slid another photograph over.
Two men watching the daughter's apartment.
Adrian went pale.
“Rainer cleans failures.”
Victor stood.
“You failed.”
Adrian stared at the images.
For the first time, fear appeared.
Victor continued.
“Testify. Give investigators every account, every payment, every murder Rainer ordered.”
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“You think they'll ignore you?”
Victor had already considered that.
“No.”
Adrian stared.
Victor said the words that shocked them both.
“I'll accept whatever comes with dismantling this.”
Adrian laughed.
“You'd destroy your own empire?”
Victor looked through the glass wall toward Emily's room.
“Yes.”
Adrian followed his gaze.
Then understood.
“You love her.”
Victor did not answer.
He did not need to.
Adrian leaned back.
“That woman really did ruin you.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“No.”
May you like
He looked toward Emily again.
“She may have saved me.”
Related Stories
